How I Met Your Parents
by embracing-shadows
Summary: ."I want to apologize in advance," was his only warning, "for Greg."


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!

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The idea formed itself in his head when his parents had called to say they were coming to visit. He'd put off telling them about Greg for so long that it was a little bit ridiculous, but it wasn't because he was ashamed or anything. No, he just couldn't figure out exactly how to break it to his parents that he was gay without giving one or both of them an embolism. It sure was going to be a shock, especially how he had eventually decided on telling them, but he was sure that they would still accept him for it. And getting them to accept Greg wouldn't be a problem either; the younger man was so lovable he had won even Grissom over in the space of a couple days. Nick couldn't wait for his mother and father to meet the man he had fallen in love with, couldn't wait to tell them that he knew this was the one. He and Greg would be together for the rest of their lives, he could feel it in every one of his 206 bones.

The day his parents were due to arrive he told Greg that he had promised an old friend a lift home from the airport. Not being a very suspicious guy, Greg had immediately agreed and said something about getting in a little alone time around their house. Little did he know that Nick was about to change their very lives. The Texan drove to the airport a mere hour from their home and met his parents at the gate. He mentioned nothing to them about the shock they were about to receive at first, just going along with the greetings and hugs and questions on how everything was going in general. Then he piled them in to the car he had borrowed from his beloved and drove off towards home.

"I want to apologize in advance," was his only warning, "for Greg." Of course Bill and Jillian asked who this Greg was and why he would be apologizing, but Nick remained close-lipped. They gave up pretty quickly, like he had thought they would. They were more interested in their son and his well being than they were about some mystery person who might or might not offend them in some way. The ride was riddled with questions about work, coworkers, the weather, how he was eating, and things like that. Nick fired his own questions back, most of them concerning his sisters and how the farm was faring in the off-season. Things back home sounded as if they were well. Nick was thankful for that. That last thing he needed was for them to be stressed out already before he surprised them with this.

When they arrived home he smiled at the sight of his own truck still in the driveway. It was good because it meant that Greg hadn't gone out anywhere while he had been gone. Or if he had he was back already. Either way he was home and the plan was in fast-paced motion. Nick opened the passenger side door for his mother and offered her his hand to help her out. The manners that the two elders had bred in to him were so deeply ingrained he was sure that he could host a dinner party in his sleep and not offend anyone. Bill came around from the other side of the car and linked his arm with his wife's, then Nick led them up the walkway to his home. As they were stepping on to the porch he smirked to himself; at the same time, Bill and Jillian frowned. The sound of loud music was leaking through the door and windows, and Nick had a pretty good idea who had turned it up so loud.

"That would be Greg," he told them, as if it explained everything. His mother nodded and his father frowned more deeply than before. Nick didn't explain why there was someone else in his house, or why they had invaded his stereo system, and they didn't ask. He just opened the door, letting out a wave of sound that almost knocked the three of them back down off the porch. Nick recognized the song and his smirk widened. He was glad that he had apologized in advance because this was definitely not the type of music his parents enjoyed. He led them inside – despite how reluctant they were to go closer to the noise – and headed straight for the living room. The song had just started and he knew Greg would be annoyed that he had shut it off, but the boy would live. Nick reached out and pressed stop on the stereo.

Nothing happened. Stunned, Nick tilted his head and looked closer. The stereo wasn't even _on_; the music was coming from somewhere else. A little confused, he turned around and headed towards the kitchen. His parents followed him and when they stepped in to the kitchen and three of them stopped. There was Greg in only a t-shirt, socks, and boxers, and he was _doing the dishes_. Greg hated cleaning. With a passion previously unknown to man. So the fact that he was standing there voluntarily doing something that involved soap and no naked Nick meant more to the Texan than his parents probably understood. It took a few more seconds for him to realize that there was a portable player sitting on the counter next to Greg exuding the song S.E.X. by Nickelback. Greg's hips were swaying despite his being stationary and he was singing along. Nick was enthralled enough to forget all about stopping the music. His parents seemed too bemused.

Having been almost done when they had all stepped in to the room, Greg finished washing the last dish while they were all watching. He placed it in the drying rack about the time the second verse ended, his hips still bopping around. Totally unaware that he had an audience, his dancing grew a little wilder. He eventually fell in to an air guitar solo, closing his eyes and somehow making his way to the middle of the room. When the solo ended he twirled in a circle and just danced like an idiot. It was the kind of dancing you do when you're alone, the kind that you'd never admit to actually doing but every does. He raised his arms and tossed his head back and turned in endless circles, just dancing without a care in the world. Nick clapped a hand over his mouth and snickered in to it, amused at how carefree Greg really could be sometimes.

The crazy blonde in the middle of the kitchen just kept spinning until the song ended and they could hear him laughing as the sound died out. He opened his eyes finally but when he caught sight of three people in the doorway his first reaction made _them_ laugh. Without even pausing in shock he leapt towards the counter and pressed the stop button on the stereo, his face full of guilt and embarrassment at being caught. His breath was a little labored from the exercise he'd just been doing, but he remained as still as possible, probably hoping to blend in to the scenery. When that didn't work he shrugged and sighed all at the same time, shrugging the embarrassment away with a practiced ease that Nick was always jealous of. He sauntered over to Nick and gave him a familiar kiss on the lips.

"Sorry, got a little caught up," he murmured, laying a hand on his love's chest. Then he turned and gazed curiously at the pair of elders standing just behind Nick. "Who's this?" he asked, his tone suspiciously polite. Nick was biting his tongue, trying his best not to laugh, and failing a little bit. He cleared his throat twice in an effort to gain some composure, but when a small snicker slipped past his lips he gave up and smirked hard.

"Greg, these are my parents," he announced as gently as he could and trying hard not to sound amused. Greg stared at him, then stared at his parents. "Mom, dad, this is my boyfriend Greg." His parents stared at him, then stared at Greg. Greg and his parents stared at each other in shock, too surprised to do any appraisals. Finally Greg put his hands on his hips and turned to glare at Nick.

"No warning at all?" he asked in a dangerous tone of voice that barely concealed his deep warm pleasure. Finally meeting Nick's parents was a big stepping-stone in their relationship, and he'd been wondering lately if they would ever step on to it. He wasn't at all upset, despite his displeased expression, when Nick just grinned at him and shook his head innocently. "Nick, this isn't funny," he tried to sound serious, as if he were offended that his love would just spring something like this on him. Truth was, Nick couldn't have found a better way to do it. It appealed to Greg in all the right ways. Greg was someone who just didn't do proper manners; they made him itch. Nick knew him well enough to avoid all that, apparently.

"_That_ is funny," Nick retorted, pointing beside himself to his parents without looking at them. Greg looked over and smiled too because, it really was funny. He bounced a couple steps closer and stuck his face right up in front of Mrs. Stokes' face. With a grin he tilted his head sideways and blinked.

"You're eyes look like they're going to fall out you know," he informed her innocently. Then he grasped Mr. Stokes' hand in both of his and pumped it a few times in greeting. Then another kiss for Nick and he skipped away down the hall to put on some pants. He could hear a great deal of silence behind him, broken only by a slight snicker from his boyfriend. He smiled to himself again as he was scouting out some clothes, then again while he made his way back down the hall. No one had moved yet, and it was still quiet.

Nick was just lounging in the doorway with a peaceful look on his face, a weight lifted off his shoulders now that he had let out his big secret. His parents were staring off in to space, trying to readjust their entire view of their son to make room for this new change. They were succeeding, if slowly. As Greg came up to them all again he felt Nick's arm snake around his waist and resisted turning around to push him against the wall. It was his usual reaction, but he figured that Jillian and Bill might not take well to seeing that so soon after finding out.

Eventually Mrs. Stokes' eyes stopped bulging and she took in a deep calming breath. The sound seemed to startle her husband, who snapped out of his trance and turned to her. They shared a long look that contained a whole conversation – Greg knew because he and Nick could share those looks. When finally they turned to face their son and his lover they were more calm and composed than either man expected them to be, which Greg gave them lots of credit for. His mother had cried when he first told her, and his father hadn't been able to speak for two whole hours other than to gibber about not having grandchildren. Both of the younger men waited with calm faces but baited breath to hear what Mr. And Mrs. Stokes would say first. Jillian took a second deep breath.

"Well…not quite what I expected to find. I suppose I should…congratulate the two of you." She affected a mother's knowing smile. "You seem happy," she added, her voice laced with meaning. Greg looked over to find Nick beaming with pride beside him and found that he really couldn't take his eyes off that smile. Meeting the parents would have to wait until Nick stopped smiling like that; it was just too beautiful. A throat cleared itself and both Nick and Greg jumped a little, their attention veering off towards Judge Stokes, who looked very serious with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed. He stared hard at Greg for so long that the blonde started feeling as if he were under one of the microscopes from the lab.

"Hmph," was the eventual verdict. While Greg didn't see anything encouraging in that particular noise, both Nick and his mother seemed delighted by it, so it couldn't be all bad. The four of them moved together in to the living room and sat down to get to know each other. Mr. Stokes didn't really add much to the conversation, just stared at his son and his son's lover like he was trying to fit together a difficult puzzle, but no one paid him much attention. Greg answered a million and six questions about himself and Nick fielded the inquiries about their relationship. In turn Jillian let Greg ask his own questions, although he didn't have many. He knew Nick pretty well after all, and he did listen when he spoke of his family.

It took about three hours, but finally Mr. Stokes made a decision. He was watching the way Greg leaned in to Nick every time he laughed, and he was watching the way his wife's eyes lit up every time he leaned in, and he was watching the way Nick was watching Greg. After a very long time he sighed and shook his head. At this, the room fell silent, and all heads turned towards him.

"I give up, he's in love." He harrumphed and crossed his arms again, sinking deeper in to the couch like a petulant child. Amazingly, it was Greg who laughed first, loud and joyous. Relieved that he understood at last why Bill didn't seem to want to accept him. No parent wants to give up their child; no parent wants to deem any potential partner good enough. But apparently Greg had passed the test, despite Bill's now obvious efforts to find a fault in him. The blonde leaned forward and clapped a hand down on his boyfriend's father's shoulder with a good-natured grin.

"Don't worry, I take good care of him," he assured the man. Bill looked at him with a dark petulant glare.

"You'd better, or you'll find yourself on the wrong end of courtroom so fast you won't have time to say 'gay rainbow'." Nick's indignant squawk cracked his father's tough front and he smiled at last, which in turn made everyone else smile. Greg caught his eye and gave him a wink. And for some reason, suddenly Bill felt like everything was going to turn out just fine.


End file.
